Longevity: Starting as a menial servant in the Green Wood Sect

Without warning, a burst of water erupted from the calm, deep mountain stream pool.

A pale, scarred hand gripped the slippery, moss-covered rocks on the shore, the knuckles bulging with veins from the excessive force. Immediately afterward, a disheveled figure, covered in seaweed and looking like a water ghost crawling out of hell, struggled to drag its heavy body ashore.

"Cough cough cough..."

Gu An lay on the muddy ground covered with decaying leaves, coughing violently and greedily inhaling the long-lost fresh air.

Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy of trees overhead, dappling his body. Though somewhat dazzling, it carried a captivating warmth. It was the temperature of the living, the tactile sensation he had fantasized about countless times in that cold, desolate underground river.

"I...I survived."

Gu An rolled over and lay on his back on the gravel beach, his chest heaving like a bellows.

Almost every inch of his body was unscathed. The deep, bone-revealing wound on his left shoulder, inflicted by the Ironback Crocodile, had been soaked in the icy river water for too long; now, the wound's edges were white and gaping, a horrifying sight. His spiritual energy was completely depleted, and his meridians, like dried-up riverbeds, throbbed with pain.

But he didn't die; instead, he felt his heart beating strongly.

The broken jade pendant that had been taken from the corpse of a prison guard in the Demon Suppression Division was now emitting a faint warmth, as if it were celebrating its new owner's survival.

Gu An didn't lie down for too long.

His years of experience struggling at the bottom of society told him that this moment was the weakest and most dangerous.

He gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain and weakness throughout his body, and struggled to get up, cautiously looking around.

This is a deep valley nestled between two precipitous peaks, surrounded by ancient trees, vines, and swirling mist, clearly a desolate and untouched wilderness.

After confirming that it was temporarily safe, Gu An dragged his heavy steps and found a secluded and dry cave to crawl into.

"call……"

Leaning against the rock wall, the first thing Gu An did was take out a sharp dagger from his storage bag, heat it slightly on a fire pit, and then expressionlessly point it at the rotting flesh on his left shoulder.

呲——

Rotten flesh was cut off, and fresh blood seeped out.

The excruciating pain instantly covered Gu An's forehead in cold sweat, but he didn't utter a sound, his eyes as cold as if he were cutting into someone else's body.

After dealing with the rotten flesh, he quickly took out the Golden Wound Powder he had previously refined from his storage bag and sprinkled it on the wound. He then swallowed a Rejuvenation Pill, and finally sat cross-legged and began to circulate the "Life Forest Wood Technique".

hum.

As the cultivation technique was activated, a warm, jade-like azure spiritual energy rose from the dantian and flowed slowly along the meridians to the injured area.

In the past, the "Green Wood Everlasting Spring Technique" would have taken at least half a month to heal this kind of injury. But now, under the combined effect of this top-level wood-type technique and the "weak self-healing" constitution in his body, a tingling and itchy sensation immediately came from the wound.

Granulation tissue wriggles and grows at a visible rate, and the broken muscle fibers begin to reconnect.

Just two hours later, the gruesome wound had scabbed over. Although it was not fully healed, it no longer affected his mobility.

"As expected of the technique passed down from our ancestor."

Gu An opened his eyes, exhaled a long breath, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

Having endured this life-or-death ordeal, not only had his physical strength increased to a new level, but his divine sense also seemed to have become more resilient and refined. If he were to release his divine sense now, he could see every rustle of grass within a radius of thirty feet as clearly as the lines on his palm.

He looked down at his tattered, faded servant's clothes and shook his head.

"This outfit can no longer be worn."

Gu An pulled out a plain blue cloth robe from the storage bag he had obtained from Wang Mazi. This was the most common attire among rogue cultivators, inconspicuous and easy to move in.

After changing his clothes, he picked up the broken "Concealing Breath Pendant".

Infuse it with spiritual power and hang it on your waist.

The spiritual energy fluctuations that were originally at the mid-stage of the fourth level of Qi Refining instantly receded like a tide, eventually stabilizing at the early stage of the third level of Qi Refining.

In the cultivation world, this level of cultivation is typical of the "cannon fodder" class—possessing some magical power but pitifully weak, making them the easiest to overlook and the easiest to be looked down upon.

"From this moment forward, there will be no more Lingnong Gu An of the Green Wood Sect in this world."

Gu An touched the stubble growing on his chin, looked at the reflection of the water droplets on the rock wall, and adjusted his facial muscles to make himself look more weathered and dull.

"There was only one down-on-his-luck rogue cultivator who was trying to survive by hiding from the war."

After doing all this, Gu An wrapped the broken sword "Piercing Clouds" with strips of cloth, carried it on his back, packed his bags, and walked out of the cave.

……

After leaving the mountain stream, Gu An did not use his inner energy to run wildly, but instead used his lightness technique to move through the forest like a monkey.

After traveling about a hundred miles, the surrounding scenery began to become desolate.

The once bustling village, filled with the smoke of cooking fires, is now mostly ruins. Charred roof beams, scattered farm tools, and the occasional skeleton gnawed by wild dogs can be seen by the roadside.

The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

"It seems things have gotten chaotic outside."

Gu An frowned slightly, but his footsteps became even lighter and quieter.

Not far ahead, a cacophony of cries and curses could be faintly heard.

Gu An swayed and floated up a large tree like a falling leaf, using the branches and leaves as cover to look outside.

On the official road below, a group of ragged refugees were being driven away by several men wielding large, dagger-like knives.

Although the men were dressed in the attire of ordinary martial artists, Gu An could tell at a glance that the leader had a faint spiritual energy fluctuation—the second level of Qi Refining.

Such cultivation level would be considered too weak even for a menial servant in a sect, but in the eyes of mortals, it would make one an invincible "immortal master".

"Hurry up! All of you, get the hell out of here!"

The leader lashed out with his whip at an elderly man who was walking with difficulty, tearing his skin and sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Immortal Master, spare me! Immortal Master, spare me! My father really can't walk anymore..." A young girl cried out and rushed forward to protect the old man.

"Can't walk? Then don't walk!"

A hint of ferocity flashed in the man's eyes, and he swung his long knife, about to slash at the old man's neck.

Just then.

laugh!

A faint, almost imperceptible sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

The man's raised arm suddenly froze in mid-air, his expression frozen in that ferocious moment.

next moment.

A red dot appeared between his eyebrows, followed by a gush of blood.

puff.

The body fell straight down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The surrounding refugees and the remaining ordinary bandits were stunned, unable to react for a moment to what had happened.

Until a blue figure landed beside the corpse like a ghost, bent down expressionlessly, and groped around inside the corpse's chest.

"Ah—! Murder!"

The remaining bandits screamed in terror, dropped their weapons, and scattered in all directions.

Gu An didn't bother with those ants at all. He took out a few broken spirit stones and a tattered account book from the corpse's body, glanced at them casually, and frowned even more.

"Thank you so much, Immortal Master, for saving my life! Thank you so much, Immortal Master!"

The refugees then realized what was happening and knelt down, kowtowing frantically to Gu An.

Gu An remained indifferent, ignoring the kneeling crowd. Instead, his gaze sharpened, locking onto a middle-aged man among the refugees who looked shifty and was about to sneak away.

"Trying to leave?"

Gu An's fingers twitched slightly.

The middle-aged man suddenly felt a tightness under his feet. Looking down, he saw that several tough vines had sprouted from the ground and were tightly wrapped around his ankles.

"Immortal Master, spare me! I was just passing by, just passing by!" The middle-aged man was terrified and begged for mercy repeatedly.

Gu An walked up to him, looking down at him: "You have spiritual energy fluctuations on you, though weak, but you've still reached the first level of Qi Refining. What are you trying to do, mixing in with the refugees?"

This person was clearly a low-level rogue cultivator, or rather, a novice who had just touched the threshold of cultivation.

"I...I..." The middle-aged man's eyes darted around.

"Tell the truth if you don't want to die." A dark cyan light flashed at Gu An's fingertip. Although it was only a fluctuation of the third level of Qi Refining, the killing intent contained within made the middle-aged man feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

The middle-aged man dared not hide anything any longer and blurted out, "My name is Liu San, and I am indeed a rogue cultivator. It's just that... I heard that the Qingmu Sect is conscripting men, and I'm afraid of dying, so I wanted to blend in with the refugees and escape to another place."

"Conscripting men?" Gu An's heart skipped a beat. "What's going on? Explain yourself."

Liu San swallowed hard and said in a trembling voice, "Immortal Master, you don't know? Half a month ago, the 'Youying Valley' of the Qingmu Sect suddenly exploded! It is said that some kind of demon was born and swallowed the entire valley and the surrounding area of ​​more than ten miles. In the end, it was only by several Foundation Establishment elders joining forces to set up a great formation that the place was sealed."

Upon hearing this, Gu An's eyelids twitched slightly.

It seems the sect's official explanation was an "outbreak of demons," completely covering up their affair with Tai Sui. That's fine; everyone will think they died in that explosion.

"And then?" Gu An asked calmly.

"And then...then the Blood Blade Sect, using the excuse that the Green Wood Sect condoned demons and broke the rules of the cultivation world, launched a massive attack!" Liu San cried, "The two sides are now locked in fierce combat. To replenish their supplies at the front, the Green Wood Sect is not only conscripting its own outer disciples, but also targeting surrounding families and independent cultivators. Anyone with even a little spiritual energy is being forcibly taken to fill the array's core and serve as cannon fodder. My meager cultivation is practically nothing compared to theirs; going there would just mean certain death!"

Gu An remained silent for a moment.

The situation was worse than he had imagined. All-out war had broken out, and the Aoki Sect was now a giant meat grinder.

"Is there any living person coming out of that Ghostly Valley?" Gu An asked tentatively.

"Living people? Where are there any living people left!" Liu San shook his head like a rattle drum. "I heard that place is now sealed off so tightly that not even a fly can get out. It's full of rocks. Moreover, the sect issued a notice saying that a manager and his disciple stationed in Youying Valley all died in the line of duty and were posthumously awarded the title of martyrs."

"martyr……"

Gu An's lips curled into a mocking smile.

So he had become a martyr. This saved him a lot of trouble; at least the Zhao family wouldn't be tracking him down for a while.

"Alright, get lost."

Gu An waved his hand, dispersing the vines.

As if granted a pardon, Liu San scrambled into the woods and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

When the group of refugees saw that Gu An had let the people go, they kowtowed again.

Gu An didn't even glance at them. With a light tap of his toes, his figure transformed into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared at the end of the official road.

Since he is already "dead," we can put aside our past grievances for now.

However, the task assigned by Qi Yunmeng, and the yearning for the Golden Core Path that had already taken root in his stomach, made it impossible for him to simply leave and go far away.

"Zhao Feng is still alive, but Wang Mazi is dead. The Zhao family will definitely hold the Blood Blade Sect accountable for this."

As Gu An moved through the forest, he quickly made calculations in his mind.

"Going back now would pose a huge problem regarding my identity. If I return directly to the sect, not only will I be unable to explain my resurrection, but I'll also be drafted back to the front lines."

"We need to try a different approach."